Life's a Beach

We have been told by many that the Oregon coast is totally better than the Washington coast.  Well we have to totally disagree.  Our next adventure takes us to the Olympic National Park Coast near the city of Mora.  We camped at the Rialto Beach Campground, not knowing that you can actually camp on the beach.  This is one of the coolest things ever, being able to hike 1 to 2 miles along the coast and camp next to the ocean.  We decided that we will return another weekend to camp the night on the beach.  This was one of the shortest hiking weekends we have done since coming to Washington. The beach was so calm, that we just had to sit down and relax and that is what we did all weekend.  Whoever has the job to name beaches, seems to have an easy job, because we went to the following beaches, First Beach, Second Beach, and Third Beach.  Further south,  Beach 1, Beach 2, Beach 3, and Beach 4, genius. Regardless of the names, we fell in love with Washington Coast.  We will be back for more.

Hello Port Angeles

We pulled into Port Angeles on a gorgeous Friday around noon o'clock.  Just like our apartment in Longview, we were entering our new establishment for the next 3 months on blind faith.  We set our standards pretty high, please don't smell like cat piss (reference to Longview apartment). We crossed our fingers as we opened the door to our new place, held our breathe, then sucked in the air.  What we received in return was crisp clean air.  As we walked up the stairs, to our upper floor duplex, our view opened to a huge open space with natural light flooding the entire floor.  To the south a view of Olympic National Park and to the north a partial view of the harbor.  We fell in love with Port Angeles right away.  I remember when Martha told me we had Port Angeles as our next assignment, I was not happy at all, it did not sound appetizing.  I am slowly learning to stop judging a "book by its cover." While unloaded our car and settling in, we met our lower 89 year old neighbor, Paul.  I asked Paul if he is enjoying being retired, he kept saying that he is not retired, but retarded.  I definitely believe that he is not retarded but he keeps insisting he is, oh Paul, you so silly or retarded.

View from our duplex

On Saturday, we decided to drive to Sol Duc Springs resort to go swimming in the natural hot springs.  On our way there we passed a SUP rental place and decided to stop in to check it out.  The rate was $12 for an hour or $40 for half day, so we changed our plans from soaking in hot springs to SUPing for an hour..... We strapped two SUPs to our roof and drove ten miles to Lake Crescent East Beach.  The sun was blazing, the water was clean, the day was beautiful.  While on Lake Crescent, Martha decided to fall off her board into the water.  It was a crisp shock of coldness as she frantically attempted to remount her board.  It was our first SUP casualty ever.  To make Martha feel better I joined her in the water, my turkey was done, ping.  We ending up boarding for about 4 hours, so it was quite an expensive first day, so I implemented a Ramen diet for the next week to make up our lose.

What SUP!

On Sunday, we went with our original Saturday plan to the Sol Duc Springs to soak in the hot springs.  As we pulled near the resort, a strong scent was lingering in the air, a smell that are usually in my nightmares, the smell of eggs.  I was told by Martha, the doctor (aka the smart one) that it is the smell of sulfur, that is how the springs are hot, due to geothermal reaction.  I never really thought how the hot springs were hot, but thank goodness for her, cause I was about to turn the car around.  It was another eventful day of chillaxing and it was a great introduction to our new home, Port Angeles.

Goodbye Longview

Dear Longview

You were a peculiar town to say the least. We thank you for being a central hub to the surrounding fun areas. We have done more things in the last three months than we have done in the last five years. We made a promise and commitment that we will be more active, eat healthier, and go explore every weekend. Thanks to you, we kept that promise and are happier for it.

We joined Mint Valley Racquet and Fitness Club where I rediscovered my passion for tennis, a sport that I have barely played in the past 10 years. It is here that I met Don and Fred, two retirees and they accepted me into their tennis gang. They gave us insights on good exploration locations and how to retire early. Technically, I am retired, but not a millionaire like they are. It is a funny dynamic in Longview, the rich live on top of the hill while the others live on the lower ground. It is almost like the Kings and Queens on the hill are looking upon their lower ground peasant neighbors.

Our two favorite places in Longview were the Mint Valley Club and Lake Sacajawea Park. We would describe the Lake as a more scenic Lake Arlington. We spent many nights walking and running around Lake Sacajawea.

Your selection of eateries ranged from McDonalds to Jack-in-the-Box which were always busy. During the tail end of our stay, when we closed our kitchen, we explored the local eateries of Fuji Japanese and a El Charrito Mexican Restaurant. Good thing we discovered those at the end, cause if we knew about the good food, we would have gone out to eat way too much and gain the freshman fifteen.

Work at Columbia Rehab was a daily challenge, as I experienced working with chronic pain patients, severe obesity, and a myriad of patients everyday.  Quirky coworkers kept me entertained daily.  I will miss carpooling with Dawn, a wonderful PTA, with an awesome sense of humor, and also a newby at Columbia Rehab.  Staff and patients alike were very friendly and welcoming.  

You gave us the opportunity to travel to local hot spots within a two and half hour drive. We were able to explore Mount Rainier NP, Mount St. Helens NP, Seattle, Long Beach, Portland, Battle Creek, Astoria (Goonies!), Cannon Beach, Seaside, Tillamook, Columbia River Gorge (SUP), Hood River, Mount Hood, Bend, Smith Rock S.P, Olympic NP, and Crater Lake NP.

We thank you again for being our first host city and perhaps our paths will cross again in the future.

Martha and VP